The Air Quality Index
The Air Quality Index (AQI) is an index for reporting daily air quality. It tells you how clean or polluted
your outdoor air is, and what associated health effects might be
a concern for you. The AQI focuses on health effects you may experience
within a few hours or days after breathing polluted air. EPA calculates
the AQI for five major air pollutants regulated by the Clean Air
Act: ground-level ozone, particle pollution (also known as particulate
matter), carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide.
For each of these pollutants, EPA has established national air quality
standards to protect public health. For Information regarding indoor
air quality please visit the Indoor
Air Quality Web site.
The AIRNow Web site
The U.S. EPA, NOAA, NPS, tribal, state, and local agencies developed the AIRNow Web site to provide the public with easy access to national air quality information. The Web site offers
daily AQI forecasts as well as real-time AQI conditions for over 300
cities across the US, and provides links to more detailed State and
local air quality Web sites.
Air Quality Forecasts - Nationwide daily air quality forecasts provided
by State and local Air Agencies for over 300 major U.S. cities.
Air Quality Conditions - Nationwide and regional real-time ozone air
quality maps covering 46 US States and parts of Canada. These maps are
updated daily every hour.
About the Data
The air quality data used in these maps and to generate forecasts are collected using either federal reference or equivalent monitoring techniques or techniques approved by the state, local or tribal monitoring agencies. Since the information needed to make maps must be as "real-time" as possible, the data are displayed as soon as practical after the end of each hour. Although some preliminary data quality assessments are performed, the data as such are not fully verified and validated through the quality assurance procedures monitoring organizations use to officially submit and certify data on the EPA AQS(Air Quality System). Therefore, data are used on the AIRNow Web site only for the purpose of reporting the AQI. Information on the AIRNow web site is not used to formulate or support regulation, guidance or any other Agency decision or position.
This page was last updated on
Friday, November 16, 2007.
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